


Landslide

by AutisticWriter



Series: Whumptober [21]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Earthquakes, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Head Injury, Hiking, Hospitals, Human Nanami Chiaki, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Swearing, Whump, Whumptober 2018, landslides
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 13:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16409420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: Hajime and Chiaki’s hiking trip goes badly wrong.[Prompt 21: Harsh climate]





	Landslide

It’s strange to trade her 3DS for a GPS, but Chiaki has to admit she doesn’t mind that much. She loves gaming, but she can cope without a controller or console in her hands for a fair while. Besides, doing something so new to her is just as exciting as playing a new game.

After all, she has never gone hiking before; other than PE at school and the odd picnic as a child, Chiaki hasn’t gone outside all that much. And especially not a proper hike like this, a real hike across the rugged woodland near Hajime’s house.

No, this sort of outdoorsy stuff is totally new to Nanami Chiaki. A huge rucksack bangs against her back with every step, crammed full with extra clothes and a sleeping bag and a tent, whilst Hajime carries the camping stove and cooking equipment. They’re going to walk nearly thirty miles over these two days, as well as actually spending the night out here in a tent. To be honest, the thought of sharing a tent with Hajime was a little embarrassing, and she was kind of relieved when he said he had his own tent with him. still, she would be a bit anxious about going so far into the wilderness with someone else, but she totally trusts Hinata Hajime.

“Are we still on course?” Hajime says, glancing down at her.

They both wear sunglasses, and he wears a baseball cap whilst Chiaki wears a wide-brimmed hat. Right know, they climb a large hill, and she smiles when she realises Hajime is out of breath.

“Yeah, we are,” she says, showing him the GPS screen. “We should be at the top in another half a mile.”

Hajime sighs in mock exaggeration, but smiles. “Are you enjoying this, Chiaki?”

Chiaki nods, smiling. “Yeah, this is fun. It’s like playing a sandbox game.”

“A sandbox game?” Hajime says, frowning.

“You know, ones where your character runs all over the place, like _Super Mario Oddesy_.”

“Oh, that sort of game,” he says, obviously remembering the time they played that game on Chiaki’s Nintendo Switch in her back yard. “Yeah, I see what you mean. It’s kinda—”

Hajime cuts himself off, stopping dead. Chiaki stops too, turning to look at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you feel that?” he says.

“Feel what?” Chiaki says.

“The… the ground shook.”

“Are you worried there might be an earthquake?”

After all, they do happen in Japan. Chiaki tilts her head, staring up at her puzzled friend.

“Uh, probably not.”

And then she feels it. The ground trembles beneath her feet, reminding her of the very beginning of an earthquake (she’s only lived through two of them – and she spent most of the last one too absorbed in a video game to remember it – so she knows what they feel like), a subtle vibration, but one that still shouldn’t be there.

“I felt it too,” Chiaki says.

Hajime frowns. “Come on, let’s get to the top. If there is an earthquake, we’ll be safer away from the trees.”

Again, she agrees; a tree fell over during the last earthquake and broke her neighbour’s car.

“Good idea.”

And the two slightly panicked teens break into an awkward run. As they dash up the steep hill, the ground trembles again and again, the trees starting to shake all around them. If only they were at Chiaki’s apartment, where they’d be safe in the earthquake-resistant building.

Hajime stumbles, nearly tripping over his own feet as his heavy bag knocks him off balance.

“Hajime!” Chiaki cries. “Hold my hand.”

He reaches for her hand and they hold each other tightly, continuing their run. They’re almost at the top of the hill. Obviously, you’re never totally safe during a natural disaster, but being on high ground away from all the things that could fall on them has to be making the best out of a scary situation.

“Nearly there!” Hajime says.

The ground rumbles, the beginnings of the actual quake. But… no, this is different. The ground beneath her feet seems… looser somehow. The earth sinks when Chiaki braces against it to run, and gives way, making her slip. Thankfully, Hajime’s grip on her hand keeps her on her feet.

“Shit,” Hajime says, voice panicky. His feet sink into the loose soil too, and he flinches at every rumble. “Chiaki, what’s…?”

“I don’t want to make us worry more,” Chiaki says. “But I think this might be a landslide.”

“Brilliant,” he mutters. “Come on, we’re nearly there.”

But Chiaki doesn’t make it to the top. Because the ground rumbles and rumbles beneath their feet and the world shakes so much the trees sway and…

Almost as though it’s water rather than earth, the ground gives way beneath their feet and starts churning its way down the side of the hill.

“Fuck!” Hajime yells, falling to his knees and grabbing onto a tree to keep him from being carried away. “You were right!”

Yes, she was right. The earthquake must have caused a landslide.

Her own legs give way, and Chiaki clings to Hajime’s hand. But the sweat on their palms makes their grip slip, and she screams.

“Hajime!”

“Shit, hold on!” he cries, teeth gritted as he clings to the tree with one hand and Chiaki with the other, his shoulders clearly close to dislocating. “Chiaki!”

But…

But…

But…

Their grip fails, the fingers slipping apart.

And as Hajime screams her name, Chiaki lets out a scream, the churning stream of earth and rocks carrying her away. She tries to reach for a tree or something – anything – she can grab onto, but everything moves too fast.

The back of her head collides with something, pain exploding through her skull, and Chiaki’s vision fades. And then she doesn’t know anything.

\---

“Chiaki! Please, Chiaki, can you hear me?”

Pain drumming through her head, Chiaki drifts back into consciousness. Her eyes flicker open, and she sees a slightly blurry Hajime. His hands on her shoulders, he stares at her with wide, panicky eyes, covered in dirt whilst congealed blood snakes down his forehead.

“Fuck, I thought you were dead,” Hajime says, near tears. “Shit, Chiaki, I’m so sorry I couldn’t hold on. But it’s gonna be okay. Can you feel it? The earthquake’s stopped. Look, it’s gonna be okay. Just stay with me.”

Chiaki tries to smile, but everything is so foggy. Pain screams inside her skull, and she has no idea what is going on.

And although she wants to focus on Hajime and reassure him, she just can’t…

Her eyes drift shut, and as Hajime begs her to stay awake, she falls back into unconsciousness.

\---

Helicopter propellers humming.

Chattering voices.

Hajime saying, “Chiaki, they’re here.”

Unfamiliar voices.

Someone jostling her.

The pain in her head.

…Darkness.

\---

The next time Chiaki awakes, she can actually process her surroundings. Well, process them enough to know she has no clue where she is.

She opens her eyes, and finds herself in a hospital bed, lying on her side. That awful pain in her head is still there, but more of a numb ache, probably explained by the grogginess currently overwhelming her. Is she on painkillers?

But how did she get here? What happened with the landslide and Hajime?

Hajime!

Where is he? Is he okay?

Something, possibly her change in breathing, alerts a nurse to her presence. The nurse walks over from the other bed in the room, and smiles down at Chiaki.

“Ah, Miss Nanami, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“Uh…” Chiaki mumbles, suddenly aware of how difficult it is to form words. “What… wh-where’s H-Hajime?”

“Your friend?” the nurse says. “He had some stitches done in the emergency room, but he didn’t need to stay. He’s in the hallway outside, waiting to see you.”

“Can… see h-him?”

“Of course you can. But first, I need to check on you. Do you need any more painkillers?”

“Don’t… think so,” Chiaki says.

“That’s good. In case you’re wondering, you suffered a skull fracture on the back of your head, a broken ankle and three cracked ribs, as well as several cuts resulting in twenty stitches. You’ve been positioned on your side like this so as not to put pressure on your stitches.” And as though she can sense what Chiaki wants to ask next, the nurse adds, “You’ve been unconscious for six hours.”

As Chiaki wonders what Hajime was going through the entire time she was unconscious, the nurse checks her vital signs, shines a torch into her eyes and changes the dressing on her head. And then, finally, she can see Hajime.

“Mr Hinata?” the nurse calls, opening the door and sticking her head into the hallway. “Miss Chiaki can see you now.”

And with remarkable speed, Hajime’s sneakers squeak on the floor and her best friend appears beside her. He drops onto the plastic chair at her bedside, bruises patterning his cheek and several stitches puckering the skin on his forehead.

“H-Hey… hey,” Chiaki mumbles, her favourite greeting not so good when she’s high on painkillers.

“Chiaki… you’re awake,” he whispers. “I was so scared… you’d be in a coma. Shit… it’s so good you’re awake. This entire time, I’ve… I’ve been so terrified. When, when I dug you out of the huge pile of earth caused by the landslide, when I called the emergency services, when I sat with you in the helicopter, and… and all the time I’ve been sitting outside your room, I… I’ve been terrified, Chiaki. I really thought… you were gonna die.”

Hajime doesn’t cry, but his face goes red and he screws his hands up, clearly forcing tears back.

“Haji… Hajime,” Chiaki says, staring at him. It’s hard work, but she lifts a painfully heavy hand, a hand she finds has a IV needle sticking out of the back of it, and holds it towards Hajime. Just like his, her hand is covered in grazes from the landslide, but it doesn’t hurt. “It’s… okay.”

He sniffs, but carefully clasps her hand between both of his own, mindful of the needle and interlocking their fingers. He smiles weakly. “How’re you always so… positive?”

“But, but I’m right,” she says. “We… we’re both s-safe now.”

And despite still looking like he wants to cry, Hajime smiles. “Yeah, y-you’re right. We’re safe now.”


End file.
